Marketing of Dried Swim Bladder of Fishes (Vesica Natatorium) in or on Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

In the last two decades, there has been a land slide movement towards markets liberalization in the world. Although the pace and depth of liberalization have varied both in international and domestic markets, but no continent remains untouched [1]. Though, this movement differs remarkably across sectors and countries, Nigeria is not an exception. One of the sectors that have experienced this enormous market liberalization in Nigeria is the fishery sector. This has enabled untold exploitation of not only the fishes but its bye and processed products.

possessed air sacs are sorted depending on the size which invariably denotes the size of the fish processed from. They are then after, graded, packaged and weighed. The buyers are contacted, and the bargain is done based on the grade. Though, the usefulness of these processed air sacs has not been authenticated, a marketer who preferred anonymity alleged that there are used for the manufacturing of medical surgery sutures. This, the author seems to believe because most bio-degradable sutures are product from animals' intestines (Encyclopaedia Britannia) and the fact that the buyers emphasizes preservation of the products by sun drying.
Extant literature reports that cat-gut or gut suture is an absorbable suture usually manufactured from the intestine of sheep or goats. They are composed of highly purified connective tissue derived from both beef or sheep intestines and have the capacity for absorption within 60-90 days for chromic sutures, 60-70 days for plain gut sutures with it full tensile strength remaining for at least 7 days. Because they eventual disintegration it makes it good for use in rapidly healing tissues and in internal structures that cannot be re-accessed for suture removal (Wikipedia, 2012). They are good for general closure, ophthalmic, orthopedics, obstetrics, gynecology and gastro/intestinal tract surgery [4]. Air sacs supply and marketing thrives in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. However, due to the cumbersome nature of fish distribution channel and the value given to the preferred cartilaginous fishes, the local dry air sac marketers must be tenaciously connected to enable easy assessment of the fishes and disposal of their products.
This system may not be without some setbacks which need to be addressed for smooth, effective and efficient.

Statement of Problem
In spite of the paradigm shift from raw agricultural produce/ farm gate sales to the current glamour for complete value chain exploitation of agricultural product for effective and increase returns, certain agricultural processed products until this twenty first (21 st ) century have neither been given comprehensive documented or its versatile usefulness investigated. One of such products is processed air sacs of some cartilaginous fishes also called swim bladder or "flooters" as fondly referred to by the local people of Oro Nation.
The air sac or swim bladder is a structure in the fishes -a sac that grows out from the anterior part of the gut. Fishes use it for self-buoyancy controls and gills for respiration. This deduction is made on grounds that cartilaginous fishes are almost exclusively water breathers at 10 0 C, (50 0 F), a temperature they show low physical activity and air breathing rate is said to be directly proportional to temperature and activity.
The generally accepted explanation of the use of this singular organ is that it serves to enable the fish to readily rise and sink in water. These important organs of the fishes are also processed and sold differently and are alleged to be used for making medical sutures and glass-fibre engine boat repairing. Other literature documentation has it that in some Asian cultures, swim bladders of certain large fishes are considered a food delicacy. Specifically, in China, they are known as fish maw, and are served in soups or stews [5]. So important and valuable are these organs that Vaquita Recovery Team [6] reported that; "the vanity price of a maw is behind the imminent extinction of the vaquita -the world's smallest dolphin breed found only in Mexico's Gulf of California and that the air sacs (maw) of totoaba (the world's largest drum fish) sells for as much $10,000 per kilogram". Swim bladders have also been reported to be used in the food industry as a source of collagen. They can be made into strong, water-resistant glue, used to make isinglass for the clarification of beer and in earlier times they were used to make condoms [7].

Study area
This study was carried out in Oron Local Government of Akwa

Sampling procedure and data collection
Purposive sampling technique was used to select sixty respondents. The sixty (60) respondents of dried fish air sac trade were used for the analysis. The reason for the purposive sampling technique was since the business at the study area is shrouded in secrecy. Equally, there is no shop that displays the product as it is done for other goods. Thirdly, only those that were ready to volunteer information were approached. Primary data collected using structured questionnaires administered by enumerators were used. The questionnaires were pre-tested for construct and validity.
Key Informant Interview was used to elicit information about the preferred fish types of marketed air sacs and to characterize the sources and arrangement for the preferred fish types. Secondary data was used to complement the information.

Methods of data analysis
The social and economic characteristics of respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics. These included mean, proportions and percentages. Characterization and documentation were used for preferred fish type. Budgetary analysis was employed to estimate the cost, revenue, gross margin and net profit accruable to the dried fish air sac marketers.
The equation used in estimating the gross margin is defined below: Where: GM= Gross Margin, TR= Total Revenue and TVC = Total Variable

Cost
The equation used in ascertaining the net profit is as follows: Where: The efficiency of marketing was measured by Shepherd-Futrel model as shown: Constraints to dried fish air sacs marketing will be ranked in order of severity. One (1) was considered the most severe constraint while rank 10 was the least severe constraint.   of the respondents, whereas the farmers and fishermen amongst them constitute 5% and 1.67% of the respondents respectively.

Results
The study reveals that majority of the dried fish's air sac marketers are traders and dried fish's air sac marketing business relationship need some capital.
Monthly income analysis shows that 55% of the respondents made N21,000:00-N30,000:00 per month from dried fish's air sac trading. Those who make N11000:00-N20,000:00 monthly income is 20% of the respondents while 8.33% of them make N31,000:00-N40,000:00 monthly income. Those that make N41,000:00-N50,000:00 monthly income is only 6.67% and those on N1,000:00-N10,000:00 monthly income is only 3.33%. It also shows that 6.67% of the respondents make more than N50,000 from the trade. The study reveals that about 23.33% of the dried fish's air sac marketers make monthly income of less than N18,000.00 which is the Federal government approved national minimum wage.

Characterization of Preferred Fish Types for Marketed Dried Air Sacs
Field survey shows that cartilaginous fishes are the preferred fish type for air sacs in the study area. However, it is imperative to distinguish between them and state why the bony fishes are not preferred. Technically, the most obvious disparity between bony and cartilaginous fish comes from the fact that the skeleton of bony fish is made of bones alone, while that of cartilaginous fish is made of cartilage. This category of fish is also referred to as Teleostomi. It is also considered the largest class in Phylum Chordata and predominantly found in fresh waters. The cartilaginous fish category is also c) The buccal cavity of these fishes is ventrally positioned.
d) The position of their tail fins is heterocercal. e) On either side, they have five gills that are overly exposed,  Table 2).

Total cost for all respondents (₦) Percentage of Total Costs (TC) Percentage of Total Fixed Costs (TFC)
A.

Am J Biomed Sci & Res
Copy@ Ubokudom E Okon  This invariably means that in dried fish air sac marketing, the budgetary fixed cost is about one quarter (1/4) of the total budgetary cost of it (Table 3).   Table 4. This implies that dried fish air sac market in the study area was efficient [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. Constraints shows a descending order of lack of storage facilities, poor marketing channels, high cost of drying price, price fluctuation, perishability and seasonality of the product, lack of capital/finance, lack of modern processing technologies, high cost of registration/selling permit and lack of relevant extension services were the most severe constraints to dried fish air sac marketing in rural areas of Akwa Ibom State. The study recommends the provision of storage and drying facilities for the processing of the fish air sacs and the provision of proper channel for the marketing of the processed products. It is equally recommended that the price of the product should be stable [41,42].